


Despair

by Bloopers



Series: Heartbreak [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Everyone is Dead, F/M, Hurt Wanda Maximoff, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sad Ending, Spoilers, Steve Rogers Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-02 05:04:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14537277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloopers/pseuds/Bloopers
Summary: The aftermath and the end of all things. IW spoilers.





	Despair

The rumbling shook him awake and he sat up, remembering that he still had a war to fight. The last thing he remembered before passing out was holding Thanos' fingers apart to prevent him from closing his fist and unleashing the might of the gauntlet. It ended with Steve being socked in the jaw with Thanos' massive fist, knocking him out cold.

But the air was different. He could feel it. It was a mixture of uncertainty and dread and he looked around, heart rate rising in alarm. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. He couldn't identify the problem. 

Then he heard it. The wailing, the cries of soldiers as screams of despair filled the air, shouts and cries calling out for their lost ones. However, Steve was still in the dark. He didn't know what was going on. One moment, they were all fighting Thanos. Now, it's eerily quiet, except for the sounds of crying and screaming. 

"Steve...?" 

Steve turned towards the comforting sound of Bucky, the sound of his friend but what he saw left him stunned in horror.

Bucky was disintegrating, his fingers and legs turning to ash as he looked at Steve, a confused expression on his face.  
Steve inched forward, reaching out to steady his friend, but Bucky collapsed like sand, the wind blowing his remains left and right and Steve felt a stab in his heart. 

No... Not Bucky, please... He thought, reaching out to the ashes trying to grasp them all.  
"No..." He whispered, voice faint, too broken to even cry.  
"No... Not you, pal. Not you.... Please..." 

He didn't know who or what he was pleading to. This was the first time he'd seen Bucky after so long, and just like that, he was gone. It hadn't even been a day. He had recovered Bucky, just to lose him again. 

Looking at Thor, Steve's lip trembled as he surveyed around him, watching as people next to him slowly dissolve into dust, people who had fought alongside him, people who had his back when they were fighting. They were all disintegrating, one by one dissolving into the wind as those that were aware desperately tried to cling onto the physical, to no avail.

Steve stumbled along the woods, his face filled with horror and despair as he watched as people scream for their loved ones and Steve felt his heart break. They had fought and sacrificed so much and this was the ending they had? No.. It isn't fair.

In the distance, he could see her. Wanda Maximoff. The woman he loved. She seemed fine, but like him, she was just as dazed and confused as she leaned over the body of their fallen comrade, Vision. 

Dragging his feet despite his exhaustion, Steve quickened his pace, moving as fast as his injured and exhausted body would let him, stumbling down once or twice, but he got back to his feet and ran towards her and that's when she looked at him and his whole world shattered.

He could see Wanda. He could see her clearly from a distance, a layer of dust forming on her skin and Steve felt bile at the edge of his throat.  
No. No. No. Please, for the love of God, not her...

His heart beating fast as he limped towards her, he could see her looking at her own arms and legs before looking up at him, her face filled with fear and worry. 

No, no, no... Steve thought. What about their happy ending? The ending that was promised to them? What about their future? His dreams and visions of them starting a family together? Was it all for naught? Was it all what it was, a mere dream?

He was close now. Just a kilometer away from her. He needed to hold her. Needed to tell her it was alright. 

900 meters. He could see the panic on her face as her fingers began crumbling. 

700 meters. Steve was yelling now, ignoring all pain as adrenaline shot through him, his muscles screaming with exhaustion. 

500 meters. Her feet had completely disintegrated now, the ash creeping up her knees and calves, all the way to her thighs. 

300 meters. Steve made his final push, his worst fears coming to life, the horrors that he had tried so hard to avoid happening before him. With a hoarse cry, he pushed forward, eyes brimming with tears.

100 meters. She looked straight at him and he could see her, the fear and sadness and love as she knew there was nothing to be done. He could see her face, once so lovely and vibrant, now turning grey.  
"I'm sorry Steve. I love you.." She mouthed. 

0 meters. Steve stumbled over her ashes before the wind could carry them away, as he tried to hug them close to his chest, refusing to let the wind take them.  
His life. His love. Gone before his very eyes.

Steve refused to move in fears that the wind would pick up on Wanda's ashes and dissipate them throughout the air. He refused to move a muscle, refused to accept this. 

Turning to the sky, Steve let out a cry of his own, a cry of unfairness and despair, of loneliness and sadness, of loss and hopelessness, of love and how it was robbed away from him. 

Everything that he once had was taken away from him. Everything that he ever loved and dreamed of, his hopes and dreams for the future disintegrating into the wind just like the bodies of many others...


End file.
